US stops paying salaries to Kurdish Peshmerga

The Pentagon has stopped paying salaries to Peshmerga, the armed forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the ruling regime of the autonomous Iraqi province of Kurdistan.

The decision was reportedly made because the KRG insists on legitimacy of its recently held unilateral referendum on independence of Kurdistan province, rather than continuing the dialogue with the central government in Baghdad as was the wish of Washington, namely due to having good relations with the Iraqi government.

The Memorandum of Understanding between the US government and the KRG was not renewed and there are also no indications of its renewal anytime in the future.

It is noteworthy that Peshmerga units no longer have any front lines with the terrorist group ISIS.

At the moment, the KRG is struggling with severe economic problems in the province.